Yes, that was a Sky short. Rather good it was too, Holness has an undeniable knack for replicating queasy late 70s/early 80s British gloom.

Everything he's done since Merenghi suggests that he's more interested in creating niche 'hauntology' drama than comedy. That's fine as far as I'm concerned, as Darkplace only ever worked as a live show - I still maintain that it was absolutely hilarious on stage - and as one episode on TV. The joke wore thin after that.

Just watched this. Cold, bleak and unsettling. Like the post above said, light on explicit plot-ambitiously so-but just enough story scattered throughout to make it both horrifying and sad. I was going to go to the Q+A tonight with Holness, sort of glad I didn't because after that ending I think I'd have to ask him if everything was alright.Excellent stuff and I'd love to see another Holness feature length before much longer.

Absolutely brilliant. A film that genuinely creeped me out which is rare these days. The eponymous puppet made my skin crawl whenever he was shown; the horrible suggestion that that horrible face might become animated at any moment. Some gorgeously bleak shots and locations. Lead guy was great as well, and the Uncle fella with this big orrible sausage fingers.

I think Holness' contribution to the book where comedians write short horror stories (Dead Funny or Dead Funny Encore) was called Possum.It was the only story that I didn't understand what the hell he was going on about.

The state of Sky though. £9.99 for an SD rental, when it's £5.99 for HD everywhere else.

I'm trying to be moral these days, but if I pipe a film into justwatch.com (search engine that tells you where you can legally buy/stream/rent films) and it's got exclusivity on sky/nowtv I just torrent it because fuck sky and murdoch.

Yeesh that was grim as fuck, genuinely feel like I need to take a shower now after spending so much time in a dark and dirty environment. I enjoyed it a lot though, even if it's a film I will never, ever watch again.

I think Holness' contribution to the book where comedians write short horror stories (Dead Funny or Dead Funny Encore) was called Possum.It was the only story that I didn't understand what the hell he was going on about.

Same. It's so densely written for something where not a lot happens. Like that Morrissey autobiography.

I watched the first 20 minutes of this on Saturday and then fell asleep when we started watching He's Out There instead.

Watched this last week. It reminded me a little of The Babadook but instead of being about depression it's about sexual abuse. And also depression. Definitely more of an atmosphere film, but boy what an atmosphere.

Here's some words copied from my letterboxd review:

Feverish nightmare blending into grim reality. Possum is dished out in such a trance-like depressive intensity that the ending knocks you stiff, punching you with the horrors it tickles at throughout. The perennial droop of Sean Harris' face ties the humanity of this film together, which only serves to augment the cruelty of the way he almost seems to merge with his haunting puppet over the course of the film. The puppet's symbolism, by the way, is evident - unexorcisable, unrepressable trauma - but the niggling terror and bleakness in which it is delivered give it a true edge.

I simultaneously did and did not want a hug after seeing this. Highly distressing - and very, very good.

Fucking hell. Incredibly bleak and grimy and yuck but really, really good. Genuinely creepy and sinister, unsettling and sad. Probably the best horror film I've seen this year. I felt like it was pretty clear where it was all headed for most of the film but the steady deathmarch there was hypnotic and engrossing. That puppet was fucked and if I ever see anything like it I'll never stop running away.

Really hope this is the first of several feature-lengths from Holness - this was seriously impressive.

Wee bit late to the party, but I just saw this and liked it. Nicely understated for the most part, Holness’s influences show in taste without being derivative. I do think they ratcheted up the musical stings a little too much towards the end, but not for lack of effect. One or two jumps legitimately gave me a full-body adrenaline shot, which is incredibly rare for me.